concerts and album releases
November 3, 2009
Phyllis Pollack
November 8 will be the 40-year mark for the historic 1969 Rolling
Stones appearances at the Los Angeles Forum, which held less than
twenty thousand seats. In another 40-year milestone, ABKCO Records
release of the 40th Anniversary package of the Rolling Stones live
album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! is out this week. The re-issue of the the
Rolling Stones album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! kicks off with the release
of an elaborate 40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set, with a subsequent
Super Deluxe Box Set that will follow, slated for release on November 17.
In commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the release of Get
Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, ABKCO Records will issue an extensive limited
edition box set. Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! was recorded live at the
Rolling Stones Madison Square Garden concerts held on November 27 and
November 28, 1969.
The first box set that will be released, the 40th Anniversary Deluxe
version, will contain a hardback book, written by legendary
photographer Ethan Russell. Within its pages are black and white and
color versions of some of Russell's most famous images from the
Rolling Stones 1969 tour. In the book, Russell has penned some of his
memoirs from that year. In the upcoming work, he also discusses the
cultural backdrop that encompassed the 1969 tour. Some of these
events that Russell recalls, which have become iconic in pop culture,
include The Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway, the
late Yippie activist and writer Abbie Hoffman, the release of the
Beatles album Abbey Road and Woodstock. The book also contains a few
quotes he recollected from the band's former longtime bassist Bill
Wyman, who was replaced with Darryl Jones, as well as a few
statements he recalled from Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Photographs in the book include one of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith
Richards backstage with the late Jimi Hendrix, as well as one of Mick
Jagger in the midst of a discussion with rocker Chuck Berry. The book
also contains detailed liner notes relative to the music and bonus
DVD included in the box set. The 56-page work also contains the
Rolling Stone Magazine review on the album that was written by the
late Lester Bangs. Bangs, one of rock music's most revered critics.
Bangs had originally written for Creem Magazine. Former Rolling Stone
writer Cameron Crowe's feature film Almost Famous featured Oscar
winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the role of Bangs. In
real life, acclaimed music journalist Dave Marsh served as Creem's
first editor, while Bangs wrote for it. Marsh later wrote for Rolling
Stone for fifteen years. Today, Marsh, who is also a prolific Bruce
Springsteen biographer, can be heard on three radio shows on Sirius/XM Radio.
The package comes in a six by eight by one and a half-inch box, with
the reproduction of the original album cover, which was photographed
by David Bailey. In addition to the hardback book written by Russell,
the set contains three CDs. In addition to the three discs is a bonus
DVD, comprised of five songs that were recorded live at the Madison
Square Garden shows, and which had never been released until the
emergence of the upcoming box set. The unreleased tracks are
"Prodigal Son," "You Gotta Move," "Under My Thumb," I'm Free," and
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." A collector's post card, a replica
of the 1969 Rolling Stones tour poster designed by David Bird, is
also included in the box set.
There will be a code included inside a limited number of the box sets
that will allow Rolling Stones fans to download the song "I'm Free"
for Guitar Hero 5.
The centerpiece of the package is the original live album Get Yer
Ya-Ya's Out! Some of its unforgettable live Rolling Stones anthems
include "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Honky Tonk Women," "Midnight Rambler,"
and renditions of the Chuck Berry classics "Carol" and "Little Queenie."
The box set also has a CD containing live tracks from The Rolling
Stones' iconic opening acts that played both the Los Angeles and New
York City 1969 tour dates, B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner.
Listeners will get to hear B.B. King's 1969 renditions of "Everyday I
Have The Blues," "How Blue Can You Get," "Sweet Soul Music" and more.
Stellar performances from Ike and Tina Turner are classic essentials
for any serious collector or fan of music. Arguably, Ike and Tina
Turner had one of the best rhythm sections in rock and roll of all
time. Songs like "Proud Mary," their version of The Beatles' "Come
Together" and the heart-stopping "I've Been Loving You Too Long"
remain timeless.
Because live concerts have always been not just about hearing, but
also about seeing the band, a special feature of the box set will
include a DVD by filmmakers Albert and the late David Maysles, also
aptly titled Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The film will flaunt five entire
performances of the five previously unreleased Rolling Stones songs.
The performances on the DVD are heard in 5.1 surround sound. They
also include a vignette featuring Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts,
working on the photo shoot for the album cover. Viewers will also get
to witness Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards improvising on guitar
backstage. Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who was later
replaced by Ronnie Wood, is also seen backstage with Hendrix.
Among the vignettes on the DVD, Janis Joplin is seen enjoying The
Rolling Stones live show. There is also an episode where the band is
waiting for a helicopter, which features members of The Grateful
Dead. Jerry Garcia is seen, clearly animated. Jagger is asked, "Have
you met Jerry yet?"
The Maysles' bonus Rolling Stones film that will be included in the
box set was shown at the New York Film Festival on September 26. The
Mayles Brothers are most known for their feature length documentary
concert film Gimme Shelter. It was a groundbreaking work when it was
released in 1970, giving fans an inside glimpse of behind-the-scenes
workings of the 1969 Rolling Stones tour. The title of the film came
from a song that had not been released as of the 1969 tour, but would
later be released on the Rolling Stones album Let It Bleed. The film
remains popular with Stones fans today.
With this month being the forty-year marker for both the Rolling
Stones Los Angeles Forum dates and the New York Madison Square Garden
dates, the timing for the release of the box set of Get Yer Ya-Ya's
Out signifies yet another milestone in the history of the Rolling Stones.
In Los Angeles, the first show at The Forum had an extra opening act,
blues singer Terry Reid. The concert promotion company for the
Rolling Stones1969 Los Angeles shows was Wolf and Rissmiller Concerts.
Larry Vallon, Senior Vice President, National Booking at Anschutz
Entertainment Group (AEG Live), the world's second largest concert
booking agency, remembers being at the 1969 Rolling Stones Forum
shows. Vallon told Examiner.com, "I had started working at the
company (Wolf and Rismiller Concerts) maybe a couple of months
before. We had a Gordon Lightfoot show after a Kings hockey date in
the afternoon, which made the logistics kind of difficult. So anyway,
I finished up with Lightfoot, and drove over to The Forum. I walked
drove down the ramp, and came up behind the band, and they were going
on stage. It was about eleven o'clock at night, and they were just
going on for the first show. So the show was extremely late. So then
after that, they had to exchange audiences. So eighteen thousand
people had to leave, and another eighteen thousand people more had to
get in, in the middle of the night. So they wound up throwing Terry
Reid off of the second show. I think there was some confusion as to
whether Ike and Tina or B.B. King was going on first. Chip Monck was
stage manager for The Stones. He had them in reversed order, so that
took even longer, to re-set the equipment for them. And then by the
time The Stones came on, it was probably like four in the morning.
And when they walked out and the audience left, the sun had come up.
(Laughs.) So that was a fun night."
Another person who remembers the tour, but who was not at The Forum
shows, is retired concert promoter Barry Fey. Fey was voted as
Billboard Magazine's promoter of the year, for three consecutive
years, starting in 1979 . He was the first concert promoter to book
Led Zeppelin in the United States, and his three-day Denver Pop
Festival on June 29, 1969 featured the final performance of The Jimi
Hendrix Experience. Fey told Examiner.com that the 1969 Rolling
Stones tour had originally been slated to open in Los Angeles.
He remembered, "When I heard The Stones were going out, I called
Ronnie Sunshine who was working for The Stones, and I said, 'Ronnie,
please, Denver deserves a date from The Stones.' I fought and I
fought, but we were turned down, and the tour was scheduled without a
date for Denver."
Fey added, "The tour was supposed to start with a date in L.A. at The
Forum. Well, about two and a half weeks before the date, he called me
up, and said, 'Listen, The Stones have thought differently about
possibly opening the show in L.A. They would like to have a soft
opening somewhere that no one would know about, and it can't be a
major city. So it can't be in Denver. Can you find a place to put
it?' I said, 'Yeah, I think so.' I called him back in an hour, and I
said, 'There's a place in Fort Collins at Colorado State University.
We could use Moby Gym.' He called back quickly, and said, 'Okay,
let's do it.' So we put together a show. It sold out right away.
People in Denver knew about it, but it was only nine thousand seats
back then at Moby Gym."
Fey started to laugh as he remarked, "The show was supposed to be
such a big secret. We kept it such a good secret, and The Stones kept
such a good secret. The show was supposed to be The Rolling Stones,
B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner. Well, they kept it such a big secret,
that they forgot to tell Ike and Tina Turner (laughs), so they never
showed up. So it was just B.B. King, and The Stones."
Author and music historian Harvey Kubernik, who attended both Los
Angeles shows, wrote in Goldmine Magazine that the band arrived in
Los Angeles on October 17. He remembers that the band rehearsed in
Burbank at the Warner Brothers sound stage, recently used for the
film They Shoot Horses, Don't They. In his 2009 article, Kubernik
recalls that the Rolling Stones also practiced near Steven Stills'
Laurel Canyon area home, which was formerly owned by the late
legendary Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conductor Carmen Dragon and his
musical family.
Kubernik, author of the book Canyon of Dreams: The Magic And Music,
also recalled that a previously arranged hockey match between the Los
Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers was rescheduled at the request
of Jack Kent Cooke, who owned both The Forum and the Kings.
Jerry Heller was a booking agent at the time of the 1969 Rolling
Stones Forum shows. A booking agent, who represented Eric Burdon and
the Animals, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Credence Clearwater Revival, The
Grass Roots, The Standells, the late Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Otis
Redding and other artists, Heller would later manage the
controversial, multi-platinum-selling rap group N.W.A., and
co-managing the late Eazy-E's Ruthless Records label. Heller says
that in the fall of 1969, he, David Geffen and Frank Barselona were
the top three booking agents in the country.
Heller was among those who were at The Forum that night. Heller told
Examiner.com, "The show started very late. They had some sound and
light problems. I had tickets for the late show, and we sat out back
in the limousine. It was really hours late. I'm talking like two to
three hours late. I was with Bobby Gibson, who at that time was the
band's press agent. We came together. And I was with Susan
Richardson, the talent booker for the television show Midnight
Special. She was my girlfriend."
Heller stated, "They started so late that Terry Reid didn't even go
on the second show. Terry Reid was really hot then, especially for a
new artist. Everybody was looking forward to seeing him. It was just
unbelievable when they finally went on. I remember being there until
early in the morning. It was a big huge show, a lot of acts on it.
They just kicked ass. People hadn't seen the Stones in three years.
So people were really anticipating seeing them. Three years is a long
time in rock and roll years. Some acts don't even last three years.
It was an amazing, phenomenal night. I remember Mick prancing all
over the stage, and it was incredible."
"I remember going backstage because we had our limo there where the
Lakers would go in. There were a lot of limos back there," Heller
added. "If the first show was supposed to start at say ten thirty, we
got there at nine thirty, and the band didn't start until two in the
morning. It was really something. Wolf and Rissmiller booked it. They
were the only major promoters in Los Angeles at the time. I remember
Larry Vallon being there, who is now at AEG and he probably did all the work."
In retrospect, Kubernik noted an important point about the shows. He
told Examiner.com, "The set list at the 1969 gigs reflected the
band's 1964-1969 world only, and they were debuting "Let It Bleed" in
front of an audience who didn't have the album in their hands yet. We
heard their new material on the spot and were the fate-selected focus
group to witness the sound and the pound in the city where they mixed
their albums like Let It Bleed and Beggar's Banquet."
Kubernik reflected, "I have this theory why the '69 Stones' tour, and
the two compact L.A. tribal gatherings that long night made impact on
all us in attendance. After a quick opener Terry Reid, and then a
church-like set from B.B. King, followed by the truly dance trance
sexual romp and stomp of The Ike and Tina Turner Revue, we were all
so ready and wet for the Rolling Stones to take it the next level,
and when it was their turn the band delivered an Inglewood floorgasm."
In 1969, Denny Bruce was working in Los Angeles with several
recording artists. Bruce was managing blues artist Albert Collins,
and he was involved in getting Ike and Tina Turner signed to a new
record deal. Bruce's roommate was the legendary producer and arranger
Jack Nitzsche. Taking a break from writing a speech for an upcoming
thirty-year commemorative event for Chrysalis Records, Bruce told
Examiner.com that he remembers explaining to Nitzsche who Terry Reid
was on the night of the shows, because Nitzche had never heard of him
before, and had no idea who Reid was. Bruce and Nitzsche went to the
second show together.
Earlier in the day, Bruce spent the day with Rolling Stones drummer
Charlie Watts. "Charlie wanted to leave the hotel, like they always
do," said Bruce. "He wanted to find a certain book. He had a child,
who by now was a teenager, and he had just moved. Charlie was very
interested in horses. He wanted to buy her a horse. So I took him out
to some bookstores. He bought some books about Clydesdale horses."
Bruce continued, "I asked Charlie, 'Aren't they too big for England?'
He goes, 'But that's what she wants.' I go, 'No, Charlie. Kids want a
pony. Have you ever seen a Clydesdale?' Charlie said, 'No, I
haven't.' Bruce laughs at the memory of this. "I said, 'Charlie,
they're huge!' I said, 'I know you don't drink Budweiser beer in
England,' trying to explain to him what these horses were.
"We went to the Pickwick bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard. It is no
longer there now," Bruce added. "And guess what? People would
actually come up to him and say, "Hey, Bill, Bill! Where's Mick?" (Laughs.)
"Charlie and I had a drink at Musso and Frank's in Hollywood. He
would love to talk to me talking about jazz, and asking me about all
these black guys that played on Central Avenue. It's like, 'Charlie,
I'm not that old!' He wishes he would have grown up in Harlem, and
played with Charlie Parker. He related more to that than rock and
roll. He was very interested in all of that."
The 1969 Rolling Stones shows in New York at Madison Square Garden,
where Get Yer Ya-Ya's out! was recorded, and the 1969 Rolling Stones
shows held at The Forum, bring back a myriad of unique memories to
those who were there. The live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! will
certainly bring back memories to any Rolling Stones fan who were at
other shows, or just grew up on The Rolling Stones' music.
The Super Deluxe edition of the Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling
Stones In Concert has all of the content that is included in the
Deluxe edition, along with the much-welcome addition of three vinyl
Rolling Stones 12-inch LPs. One of the vinyl discs will feature
etched images featuring the cover art and the autographs of the band
members. The Super Deluxe set will be released on November 17.
--
Related articles:
Rolling Stones' 'Get Your Yas-Yas Out' to be reissued in expanded
versions with unreleased tracks
--
For More Information:
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/discography.htm
www.rollingstones.com/home.php
www.answers.com/topic/denny-bruce
www.rollingstones.com/home.php
www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/music+industry+profile+larry+vallon+of+aeg+live
www.amazon.com/Ya-Yas-Rolling-Stones-Concert-Anniversary/dp/B002NOAF9W/ref=sr_1_1
www.rocksbackpages.com/writer.html
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1 comment:
I attended the Stones concert at Moby Gym, Fort Collins, Colorado. It was amazing! Edgar Winter opened, followed by B.B. King, then the Stones came on stage blasting out "Jumpin' Jack Flash."
My girl friend surprised me, telling me she got tickets for the Stones who she said would be appearing at the Colorado State University gym (Moby Gym), located across the road from my dorm room. I was certain she was kidding me. She wasn't. There was such a crowd at the door that we got to take any seat we wanted. We wound up in row 11, center. What an amazing evening!!!
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